Proverbs 1:7-22

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: wisdom and instruction fools alone despise.

⁸Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and cast not off the teaching of thy mother;

⁹For a wreath of grace are they unto thy head, and chains for thy throat.

¹⁰My son, if sinners wish to entice thee, consent thou not.

¹¹If they should say, Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us watch in concealment for the uselessly innocent;

¹²We will swallow them up like the grave alive; and the men of integrity, as those that go down into the pit;

¹³We shall find all kinds of precious wealth, we will fill our houses with booty;

¹⁴Thy lot must thou cast in our midst; one purse shall be for us all:

¹⁵My son, walk not thou on the way with them; withhold thy foot from their path;

¹⁶For their feet run after evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For uselessly is the net spread out before the eyes of every winged bird:

¹⁸While they lie in wait for their own blood; they watch in concealment for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the paths of every one that is greedy after unlawful gain; it taketh away the life of those that own it.

²⁰Wisdom crieth loudly without; in the public places she uttereth her voice;

²¹At the corner of noisy streets she calleth, at the entrances of gates; in the city she sayeth her speeches:

²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners take their delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge?